High school football: Four locals grab top all-district honors

After a 2013 season of record-breaking performances, drought-ending conference championships and undefeated romps through the regular season, it’s time for Lorain County’s top football players and coaches to be rewarded for their efforts.

Elyria’s Kevin Fell (Division I) and Keystone’s Rob Clarico (Division IV) were named All-Northeast District Coaches of the Year on Tuesday. Elyria linebacker Conner Kamczyc was named the Division I Defensive Player of the Year, while Columbia quarterback Jay Banyasz was named the Division V Offensive Player of the Year.

Fell guided the Pioneers to a 7-4 record and the second playoff appearance in school history. It is the second time in three years that Fell has won the all-district award.

“I’ve been really lucky,” he said. “Throughout my career I’ve been blessed to coach great kids and have really good assistant coaches. It’s a thrill to win, but I am only able to do it because I had great kids to coach.

“It’s always a team effort. They could have just as easily given that award to our linebackers coach or our running backs coach or any of my assistants, because we would not have had the season we had without them.”

Two years ago when Clarico’s Wildcats finished the year 0-10 it would have been hard to imagine the Division IV co-Coach of the Year Award that he shared with Chagrin Falls’ Mark Iammarino, or that the school’s first conference title since 1971 would be on the horizon.

“That 0-10 team may have been the best coaching job my staff and I ever did,” Clarico said. “We kept everybody’s confidence and spirits high, knowing better days were coming. Winning a conference title was big for the school and the entire community. We talked about 1971. Year after year, it was burned into our players’ minds. It was amazing to see the emotions after that game.”

Clarico said this was his best season out of the 10 he has coached at Keystone.

After being named to the first-team, All-Ohio defensive unit last year, Banyasz had a memorable offensive season in 2013. The 6-foot-3, 185 pound senior threw 28 regular-season touchdown passes without an interception. He also ran for 619 yards and 10 touchdowns, despite being hobbled by an ankle injury during the second half of the season.

“Before this year people knew me more as a defensive player than a quarterback so it feels good to win an offensive award,” Banyasz said. “But more than being just a quarterback or a safety, I would like to be remembered as an athlete who made football entertaining to watch.”

Banyasz gave most of the credit for his success to his teammates and coaches.

“I could not have done this without my offensive line and my receivers,” he said. “We had so many good receivers this year that someone was always wide open. Coach (Jason) Ward has done so much to make me a better player. He works so hard to research and watching film to find an edge that can help us become better players.”

Banyasz was one of six Raiders named to the All-District first team after Columbia’s 10-1 season.

Kamcyzc’s goals going into the season were to help lead Elyira back to the playoffs and break the school record for tackles. He succeeded on both fronts.

The 6-foot, 215-pound senior middle linebacker — a first-team, All-Ohio selection in 2012, finished the year with 211 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions.

“It was a very exciting season both for me and my team,” he said. “After all the hard work it’s nice to get an honor like this.”

Kamczyc should probably give an assist to Elyria wrestling coach Erik Burnett. The two-sport athlete was going to quit football during his sophomore season but Burnett encouraged him to stick it out. The following offseason, Kamczyc moved from defensive end to linebacker.

“I stuck it out my sophomore year,” he said. “In Game 5 I started playing varsity. After the year they moved me to linebacker. I just tried to work hard and stay positive, and now football is my best sport.”

Fell said he saw a glimpse of the toughness that has made Kamczyc a Division I recruit as soon as he was pressed into action as a sophomore.

“When he was a 160-pound defensive end he went up against 290-pound tackles and held his own,” Fells said. “Then he worked hard and grew into a 215-pound linebacker who has been almost unstoppable.”